Wheat Flour Ban will not Apply to Semolina & Maida: Government

Before shipping, exporters of wheat flour (atta) will need a quality certification from the Export Inspection Council or one of the four identified Export Inspection Agencies, as well as approval from the inter-ministerial committee for wheat export.

To obtain the necessary NOC (no objection certificate) from the inter-ministerial committee (IMC), all exporters must submit their request in the specified format via the DGFT's online module, according to a trade notice issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Monday.

The Centre amended its wheat flour export policy earlier this month, mandating that exports be subject to the IMC's recommendation on wheat exports beginning July 12.

While the government stressed that wheat flour export remained free because the notification's goal was to ensure quality, sources said that with a wheat export ban in place since May 13, 2022, it was also important to keep an eye on wheat flour export.

The revised export policy for wheat flour, however, does not apply to maida or semolina (suji), the export of which remains unrestricted, according to the DGFT's most recent notice. Exporters must submit a purchase order copy, an invoice, and documentary evidence if their company is ISO 22000 compliant, according to the trade notice.

At the time of online submission, a processing fee of 1000 must be paid. "The IMC on wheat export shall consider online filed complete applications in the desired format received for export of wheat flour (atta) in its weekly meeting every Thursday." As a result, all such applications received by Monday will be considered for the weekly meeting on Thursday of the same week," the notice stated.

Further decisions would be made based on the IMC's recommendations, and necessary communication would be sent to the applicant as well as the relevant Customs authority, it added. The IMC approval for wheat flour export will be valid for three months.

All shipments approved by IMC may be exported only after a quality certificate is issued by the Export Inspection Council, India's official export certification body, or its Export Inspection Agencies in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, in accordance with the requirements specified in the trade notice.

"The Quality Certificate issued by EIC to the applicants recommended by IMC will be mandatory for the export of wheat flour (atta) and will have to be produced before the Custom Authorities for export clearance," according to the notice.